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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28006560">two lonely souls</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/savorvrymoment/pseuds/savorvrymoment'>savorvrymoment</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Casual Sex, Cunnilingus, Emotionally Repressed, F/M, Falling In Love, Friends to Lovers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 20:07:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,436</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28006560</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/savorvrymoment/pseuds/savorvrymoment</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Two lonely people track the Mandalorian on a quest for old beskar.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Boba Fett/Fennec Shand</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>192</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>two lonely souls</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Inspired by all the humorous Tumblr posts commenting on how Boba was stalking Din this entire time, waiting for the time to strike lol.  </p><p>And yeah, this is probably going to be canon-divergent as soon as the new episode gets put up today but, there we go. Hopefully you enjoy, stay safe out there. &lt;3</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It's not the first time she's crossed paths with him, but it's been a while.  It's been years.  He's not what she remembers.</p><p>"You don't look the same," she tells him, lying out in the back of his ship, her insides still flayed open and hurting.  </p><p>He's leaned over her tinkering with the cybernetics.  He has everything covered best he can so she can't see what he's doing, can't see how her flesh is melded with the metal. Still, she can feel him working, the parts tugging at her insides.  She's already feeling faint and nauseous, and he's making it all worse.</p><p>She's been awake barely a day, and her memories before that are spotty.  She remembers exhaustion and pain, a lot of pain, and a man taking care of her, his scarred hands giving her water and broth. </p><p>Looking back now, it was obviously Boba.  He's been here with her the whole time, putting her back together and keeping her alive.  It's all oddly touching.</p><p>"What happened to you?" she asks him, and he glances up at her from where he's working to answer.</p><p>"I was eaten by a worm."</p><p>She laughs at him, can't help it, but the movement pulls on her stomach, makes her wince in pain.  He frowns at her, and she says, "So what? You were so nasty it spit you back out?"</p><p>"Something like that," he answers, grinning a bit.</p><p>She smirks.  "The mysterious Boba Fett.  All myth and legend."</p><p>"I'm just a man like any other," he says.</p><p>"Mmm," she murmurs.  "I assume the New Republic is looking for you, too.  Maybe we stick together for a bit.  We can watch each other's backs."</p><p>"The Republic thinks I'm dead," Boba says.  "And I'm trying to keep it that way."</p><p>"Ah," Fennec says.  "Then I should go my own way once I'm able.  You don't need my troubles knocking at your door."</p><p>"How very magnanimous of you," he says.</p><p>"You've been working on your vocabulary," she teases.  She gets an unimpressed look from him for her trouble.  She sobers, says in all seriousness, "Fett, we had some good times back in the day, yeah?  And you always had my back.  I don't wish you any ill will."</p><p>"Yes, well, I could use your help," he says.  "So I'll take my chances with whatever danger you bring my way."</p><p>"You men, you always want something," she says.</p><p>"Your attitude hasn't changed at all," he notes.</p><p>"I'm just a woman like any other," she parrots him.  He grins at her, crooked and fond.</p><p>And maybe she feels scared and vulnerable in her current situation, forced to rely on him for her well-being.  She learned at a young age that you can't count on other people, that you have to be independent, fight for yourself and yourself alone.  Other people will inevitably let you down.  </p><p>If she's forced to rely on someone, though, she'd rather it be Boba Fett than anyone else.</p><p>~*~</p><p>She used to work for Hutt around the same time Fett did.  They ran into each other from time to time, and there were a couple of targets they hunted together even though she preferred to go it alone.  Boba always made it clear at the time that he didn't want her around, either.  At least not while he was trying to work a job. </p><p>Other times, though...</p><p>They had drinks together from time to time, and they fell into bed together plenty.  He was a sure thing, never expected anything from her, and he was just a damn good lay.  He was considerate and giving, liked going down on her, and was packing heat between his thighs.</p><p>She figures it's not surprising they fall back into old habits. </p><p>Boba is lonely, that much becomes glaringly obvious almost immediately.  She finds out he's been wandering the sands trying to get his hands on his father's armor for who knows how long.  A year at least, probably longer.  Ever since he's been recovered from his injuries and able to travel. </p><p>Alone.  All this time.</p><p>She knows it takes a toll.  She's been alone ever since the New Republic put a price on her head.  She's not a friendly person, not a social butterfly, but she still gets so desperate for someone to talk to sometimes, it's painful.</p><p>Now, there's someone here beside her who is familiar—whose voice is familiar and whose body is familiar and whose touch is familiar.  She makes it a week before she's climbing into his lap in the back of his ship, demanding it of him because Fennec Shand does not beg, even if the tone of her voice isn't as demanding as she wants it to be.</p><p>It's... not the body she remembers.  The scars that snake across his face and skull extend down to the tips of his toes.  There are even thin white scars across the shaft of his cock, keloid burn scars on his left testicle—but he doesn't have a problem getting hard, and he feels as good inside of her as she remembers.</p><p>He gets her off twice before he comes inside of her.  Then, while she's lying squished up beside him in his too-small bunk, he asks, "You alright?"</p><p>"Yeah," she replies, then laughs.  "You'll kill a woman with your pillowtalk, Fett."</p><p>"You knew what you were getting into," he says. </p><p>There's a joke there, 'getting into', but she lets it go.  She trails her fingers along a scar on his belly, around his bellybutton.  He's put on some weight since she saw him last, but he carries it well.  He looks strong, fit, and healthy...</p><p>Or at least he would look healthy, if he didn't look chewed apart and spit out.</p><p>"I needed that," she tells him.</p><p>"Hmm?" he murmurs.  She can see his face in her mind's eye—his eyes half-lidded, crow's feet and frown lines smoother while he's relaxed, still handsome in his own haggard way.</p><p>"It'd been a while," she admits to him.</p><p>He chuckles, says, "However long it's been for you, it's been longer for me."</p><p>"Yeah, okay," she says, sarcastic.</p><p>He moves, wiggling his arm out from between them to wrap it around her. "Yeah," he echoes her.  "I haven't exactly had women lining up to hop on."</p><p>"To 'hop on'?" she mocks him.  He shrugs underneath her, so she does back to rubbing his belly.  He sighs, sounding content.  It's a nice sound.</p><p>She thinks maybe she'll hang around even after they get his armor.  It shouldn't take too long—he's already tracked the armor to a nearby town, a day's drive away.  The thought of being on her own again is... disheartening, to say the least.  And Boba really isn't too bad of a guy.  Men of a criminal sort are all the same when it comes down to it, but Boba seems to have some amount of honor to him. </p><p>Rumor has it that his father was Mandalorian.  It makes sense considering that, according to Boba, the iconic armor was apparently his father's to begin with.  So maybe Old Man Fett taught Boba some of that famed Mandalorian honor, that Mandalorian ethic and drive.</p><p>She'll be safer with Fett at her side.  Two sets of eyes and two sets of guns are better than one.  And she can't ask for a better shooter.  She just needs to convince him that it's also in his best interest that she stay.</p><p>Really shouldn't be a problem, she thinks, trailing a fingernail down his belly, down below the blanket, and down the soft length of his cock.  He sucks in a quiet breath, squeezing her against him with one strong arm, and she grins.</p><p>Yeah, shouldn't be a problem at all.</p><p>~*~</p><p>The problems begin immediately, namely in the shape of one shiny Mandalorian.  It's the same one who'd helped that kid out in the middle of the desert.  As far as Fennec is concerned, the bastard as half the reason she almost died.</p><p>She tells Boba all of this, loud and impassioned and angry, ready to find a good position and snipe that beskar bitch off the face of the planet. Except Boba stops her, grabbing her by the wrist and growling <em>no</em> and <em>stop</em> at her, then finally, "He has a child with him."</p><p>"Oh, get over your daddy issues," she snaps.</p><p>She watches him rear back at that, expression hardening. For a moment, she thinks he's going to strike her, slap her right across the face, even though he never has.  He's never hit her before, and she's never seen him strike anyone without reason.</p><p>She almost wants him to, welcomes it.  It'd be a good excuse to hit him back, to rail at him for thinking he has a damn say over what she does.  To yell at him for just fucking existing.</p><p>She doesn't even know why she's so angry.  Maybe because she's never been happy having someone beside her, and she was actually enjoying his presence for a while...</p><p>But after a pause, Boba sighs, clenching and unclenching his fists.  He says, "We're not killing innocents."</p><p>"That Mandalorian is not an innocent," she says, gesticulating wildly.</p><p>"I'm sorry for what happened to you," he says, quiet. "But he did not pull the trigger. Your issue is with a man already dead."</p><p>She hates him a little for that, holds a grudge for the next several days while they linger around outside the town and wait for the Mandalorian to leave.</p><p>In the end, the damn Mandalorian takes the armor with him then flies off-planet. Which would all be very satisfying, the schadenfreude of it, except Boba doesn't seem upset at all. He just throws some credits around until someone tells him where the Mandalorian was headed, then loads up his ship.</p><p>She doesn't know whether it's because he still doesn't have his armor, or if he's just become fond of having her around, but he ushers her along with him like it's just expected.  The Slave I is on the smaller side, but there's room enough for the both of them—a pilot and copilot seat, storage for her guns along with his, and two bunks...</p><p>The second bunk doesn't get much use, even though they barely fit together in the one.  Soon enough, she forgets why she was ever mad at him.</p><p>~*~</p><p>The Mandalorian turns out to be a disaster.</p><p>Trying to tail him is a nightmare.  He flits here and there seemingly without any destination.  He crashes his ship on an ice planet then puts it down in the water on the moon of Trask.  It would all be hilarious if he weren't carrying something worth millions upon millions of credits around with him—and she's not talking about the beskar.</p><p>She hears new prices on the child's head while skulking around looking for information on the Mandalorian.  It's gone up staggeringly, enough to buy herself a new ship and a new face.  Enough to set herself up comfortably for the rest of her life, even after she splits it with Fett.</p><p>Or if they shared it, maybe they could even go off together, settle somewhere quiet in the far outer rings.  As long as they went by different names, no one would suspect anything.  They could just be a couple of veterans of the war, looking for some peace and quiet.</p><p>She brings it up to him one night, trying to play him the right way.  The thing with Fett is you have to make it seem like it's his idea, or he'll balk at it.  So she waits until after they've had supper at the cantina, after they've trailed their way back to the Slave I.  She watches him as he unhooks his weapons belt and hangs it on its rack, then she tells him her plan.</p><p>Kill the Mandalorian.  Take the baby.  Take the armor—all of it, Fett can keep the extra set.  They can either split the credits and go their separate ways, or... if he doesn't mind the company...</p><p>Either way, everyone wins.</p><p>He listens to her whole explanation in complete silence, then once she's finished, he comes unglued.</p><p>She's not expecting it, though in hindsight, maybe she should have been.  In hindsight and giving it all a little more thought, she should have never even suggested it.  Before, on Tatooine, that had been his one main objection on attacking the Mandalorian.  He has a child. </p><p>
  <em>He has a child.</em>
</p><p>Boba grabs his weapons belt back up and flings it across the hanger before rounding on her.  "We're not killing a child!" he growls.</p><p>"They want it brought in alive," she protests.</p><p>"And what do you think they are going to do to it?"</p><p>It's a fair question, but it's also something that bounty hunters don't ask.  She runs a hand over her face, frustrated.</p><p>"I don't kill children," he tells her.  "And I don't plan on starting today."</p><p>"All we have to do is kill the Mandalorian."</p><p>"I'm not killing the child's father."</p><p>"He's not the child's father!" she snaps, flinging her hands in the air. </p><p>He stares at her, an ugly snarl pasted across his face.  It's the most emotion she's seen from him this entire time.  He's been so very quiet and passive, almost... kind.  This reaction should probably scare her.  She's unarmed, and he's twice her size, could probably snap her in half like a twig. </p><p>Still, she yells, "All the targets you've killed over the years?  You think you've never killed someone's father, someone's mother?  Get off your moral pedestal."</p><p>His face does a funny thing, like it can't decide on what expression to settle on.  Then, he whirls back around and slams his fists into the weapons racks.  A few guns fall off, clanging and clanking as they hit the ground.  "<em>Besom</em>," he snaps, then, twisting back around to snarl in her face, "<em>Haar'chak</em>!"</p><p>"Okay, sure," she says, no idea what he's saying, but the tone of his voice is clear enough.  He's probably calling her a bitch or a whore.  Typical.</p><p>He slides past her, somehow moving smooth and quiet even while he's effectively stomping in anger.  He slaps at the controls, and the ships whirs as the doors slide open and the ramp comes down.</p><p>"Where are you going?" Fennec demands.</p><p>"Back to town," he answers.</p><p>She rolls her eyes.  "Fine.  Very mature.  Just leave."</p><p>He doesn't reply.  The ramp comes up and the ship doors shut in her face. </p><p>~*~</p><p>It grows very late, and she lies town to sleep before he returns.  She doesn't worry too much.  He can take care of himself.</p><p>She wakes up to hands on her, a warm palm on her hip and another running up under her sleep shirt.  Her fight-or-flight reflex has her flailing out, and her fist connects with a thick, heavy chest.  Someone grunts, and the hands pull away.</p><p>"Fen, Fen, it's me," Boba says, and of course it's him. </p><p>"Shit, I'm sorry," she says, sitting up in her bunk and rubbing at her eyes.  "I was asleep, Boba, what...?"</p><p>He's drunk as a skunk, that becomes apparent immediately.  She can smell the alcohol on him, sharp and sour, and she wrinkles her nose.  Meanwhile, he rubs at his chest, on his knees in front of her, looking like she's personally offended him by punching him.</p><p>She grabs his hands up, squeezing them, and says again, "Hey, I'm sorry.  I was asleep.  I didn't know it was you."</p><p>He nods at her, eyes searching her face, before tipping forward and burying his face into her stomach.  His hands slide up her bare thighs, bracing himself against her, then he mumbles into her shirt, "M'sorry."</p><p>He's not apologizing for waking her up.  The tone of his voice and his body language is clue enough of that.  She sighs, cupping the back of his bald head in her hands.  "You're drunk," she tells him.  "We can talk in the morning."</p><p>He grunts at her, his hands sliding up her thighs, up under her shirt.  He rocks back on his haunches, giving himself room to palm at her breasts, watching himself do so even though it's all covered by the t-shirt.  She rolls her eyes.</p><p>"You're too drunk," she says.  "Can you even get it up right now?"</p><p>"I can eat you out," he says.  "Love doing that to you..."</p><p>"Fuck," she murmurs, and she knows she's going to let him.  Still, she protests, "Boba, I'm tired."</p><p>"Please?" he begs.</p><p>And that's really all it takes, a man on his knees begging her.  She's fairly sure he's figured that out by now, that he can get whatever he wants by just acting needy and begging for it.  Still, it works. </p><p>It's an uncomfortable position, trying to lean back against the wall in the bunk and hitch her thighs over Boba's shoulders.  He pulls her panties off without any thought to it, then buries his face between her legs.  She gasps, his breath warm and his lips a bit chapped.  He doesn't fuck around, doesn't tease, goes right for her clit, hot and wet and familiar.</p><p>It's nice, she thinks, being with someone who knows her body.  Who knows what she likes.  Who she doesn't have to give directions to...</p><p>She sighs, closing her eyes and sinking down against the back wall, trying to get more comfortable.  He makes a soft little noise in the back of his throat, warm and deep, and slides his hands under her ass, tilting her hips up toward him.  "Yeah," she tells him, crossing her feet behind his back and laying her hands on his scalp.  "Just like that, baby..."</p><p>He makes her come twice—it seems to be his magic number, like he thinks she has to come twice or he hasn't done it right—before he drops a hand between his own thighs.  He fondles his flaccid cock a bit before apparently giving it up as a lost cause.  She laughs at him as he tries to crawl into the bunk alongside her, his signature black robes pulled halfway off. </p><p>"You're a mess," she informs him, helping him in and arranging them best she can.  There's never enough room, but he's warm and soft, comfortable to lie on and against. </p><p>He just grunts at her, pulling her against him, seemingly happy even though he hasn't gotten his.  She smiles, scratching his scalp. </p><p>"I thought you might be too drunk," she says.  He doesn't reply, so she just continues, "Well, you get a freebie in the morning.  If you're not too hungover, at least."</p><p>"It's fine," he says, and then she feels his fingers on her stomach, trailing slow around where the cybernetics are attached.  When she looks at him, his face is tilted down, following the path of his fingers.</p><p>She takes a breath, then exhales slow.</p><p>What's more intimate, she wonders.  His hands in her guts, or his mouth on her cunt?</p><p>~*~</p><p>The Mandalorian takes his barely flight-ready vessel and heads toward Nevarro.</p><p>At least that's where they assume he's headed.  It's where his covert was from, according to Boba.  It's effectively his home.  Fennec asks him how he knows this, and Boba just says he has 'sources'.</p><p>She rolls her eyes, but she decides to trust him on his Mandalorian intel.  He might know what he's talking about.</p><p>Regardless, they get waylaid and lose track of him between Trask and Nevarro.  A couple of New Republic ships come up on them, and while Boba takes care of them easy, no damage to the Slave I, it still puts them in a precarious situation.  Blowing up two New Republic ships won't go unnoticed.  There will be more in the area soon enough to investigate, trying to figure out why their men went offline.  She and Boba can't be there when that happens.</p><p>So he takes to hyperspace, then fixes the Slave I to orbit around a lifeless moon.  He sets up every radar the ship is equipped with.  "We'll probably get dings on small debris, but I'd rather be safe than sorry," he tells her.</p><p>Then they sit, and they wait.</p><p>"We're going to lose the Mandalorian," she tells him on the second standard day, sitting next to him in the copilot seat and watching the radars. </p><p>He shrugs, then offers her the bag of chips again.  There's not much to do while they wait except eat and fuck—as long as she straddles him in the pilot seat, he can still see the radars over her shoulder.</p><p>"Maybe in a couple more days, we can go back," she says, grabbing a handful of the offered chips then stuffing them in her mouth.  Her next sentence comes out garbled.  "Hopefully we can catch his trail."</p><p>"Worst case scenario, we take the bounty on the child and use a tracker to find him," Boba says.</p><p>"I thought we weren't taking the bounty," she says, raising her brows.</p><p>"We aren't.  Not like that," he says, voice cold.  "But getting a tracker will get us to the child.  And getting us to the child will get us to the Mandalorian."</p><p>"Which will get us to your armor," she finishes for him. </p><p>He nods in agreement.</p><p>She holds her hand out for more chips, and he obliges, handing her the bag.  "I wonder why he's traveling around with that child, anyway," she muses.  When Boba glances at her, silent, she elaborates, "With how much it's worth now, you think he'd find somewhere to collect."</p><p>"Some things are worth more than credits," he answers.</p><p>She laughs, says, "Yeah, like what?"</p><p>"Family," he says, without missing a damn beat.</p><p>She sighs.  "You can't let it go, can you?"</p><p>"What?" he asks.</p><p>"Your father," she says.  "I only know what I've heard, so probably only half of it is true.  But the fact that we've chased his armor halfway across the galaxy says worlds in itself..."</p><p>"You don't know anything," he says, voice low.</p><p>"I know more than you think," she tells him.  "My parents died when I was young.  I went to a children's home, but I ran away went I was fourteen.  Got to work stealing on the streets.  The rest is history."</p><p>He's quiet for a long moment, just staring at the radar dash.  Eventually, he says, "The Mandalor believe that their armor is an integral part of the self.  An extension of the self.  That armor was my father's, and now it is mine.  Our very gene code is encoded into it."</p><p><em>Oh</em>, she thinks.</p><p>"If this were a simple blaster that my father used in combat, I wouldn't care.  That Mandalorian could keep it, or destroy it, or whatever he chose," Boba continues.  "But it is my beskar.  And it belongs with me."</p><p>"I—I understand," she says.  Then, "I didn't realize you considered yourself Mandalorian."</p><p>"I'm a Mandalorian by blood, if nothing else," he says.</p><p>"Fair enough."</p><p>Silence settles between them, a bit awkward.  Boba stares at the radars, and she crunches away at her chips.  When Boba speaks, it's so abrupt it takes her by surprise.  "I'm sorry for your loss."</p><p>"What?" she asks.</p><p>"Your parents," he says.  "I'm sorry."</p><p>"That was a long time ago," she tells him, shaking her head.</p><p>"Still," he says.  "I wouldn't wish that on anyone."</p><p>She looks at him, at his scarred and haggard face, and can't help but lean over and kiss his cheek.  He bumps her chin with his knuckles in response, a melancholy grin curling his lips.</p><p>She wonders if things could have been different. </p><p>If maybe things can still be different.</p><p>~*~</p><p>They literally pass the Mandalorian as they head back toward Nevarro, so they swing back around fast and follow him to Corvus.</p><p>Sometimes, luck pays out.</p><p>They land nearby his ship but out of sight, bickering about it all the while.  Boba isn't being careful enough, and he's going to get them caught.  And damn it all, she's not going to get captured by the New Republic over his damn armor.</p><p>"I've been doing this sort of work since I was a child," he snarls at her.  "So just shut your mouth and let me work."</p><p>"Wow, that's some big talk from a short little man," she snaps.</p><p>"You weren't complaining about my size yesterday," he shoots back, and she hates him enough to hit him on the head for that one.  He has his black hood up shading his eyes from view, but she can still feel him glaring.</p><p>They stalk off through the dark forest toward the Mandalorian's ship, Fennec quietly fuming, though her anger gets thrown on the back-burner once they make it to their destination.  The Mandalorian and his child are nowhere in sight, so they case the ship, decide to just break in and take the armor then leave.</p><p>It's not so simple. </p><p>The ship is locked up tight, and the Mandalorian seems to have custom security on it.  Fennec tries to use a hacking fob to get into it, but entrance is denied.  Boba tries to just shoot his way in, but nothing even comes loose, much less falls open.  Fennec worries the Mandalorian is going to come looking for them now that they've shot at his ship, but Boba waves her concern away.</p><p>Boba might be right, considering the state of the Mandalorian's ship.  It's very possible he won't even notice the blaster holes.</p><p>So they head back to the Slave I annoyed and frustrated.  Then they have rough sex in the cargo hold because... stress relief.</p><p>She feels better afterward, cleaning herself up in the fresher.  She always feels good afterward, that rush of happy endorphins and just this feeling of... she doesn't know. </p><p>Boba isn't a gentle or sweet man, and he isn't gentle or sweet in bed either.  But he's considerate, and he's affectionate.  He pets her sides and nuzzles her hair and rubs her clit, no matter how hard he's fucking her.  And he always kisses her afterward, soft and slow, even when the sex has been fast and callous and rough. </p><p>And he always <em>always</em> asks her if she's alright, if she needs anything, if she wants anything...</p><p>She's tested him a few times, just curious.  When he asked if she was alright, she told him she was thirsty, and he immediately rolled up out of the bunk and got them both water.  When she told him she was hungry, he got up without complaint and got them both a snack.</p><p>When she told him she was sore, he got her a warm washcloth to press between her legs and fucking <em>apologized</em> to her.</p><p>It's... almost like he cares about her. </p><p>It's a nice feeling, one she's not used to.  She can't say anyone's ever cared like this before, not just about her.  Sure, people have cared about what she's capable of, or what she could do for them—and maybe that's all he cares about, the fact that she here helping him get his armor.</p><p>But that doesn't explain the way he grins when she comes out of the fresher.  It's a small and easy thing, like the simple sight of her stepping into view makes him happy. </p><p>"All done?" he asks, quiet.</p><p>"Yes, it's all yours," she says, gesturing to the fresher.</p><p>He gives her a little pat on the ass as he goes by, soft and proprietary.  If it was anyone else, she'd chew them out for doing something so typically masculine and domineering. </p><p>As it is, she smiles to herself, gears whirring hot in her belly.</p><p>~*~</p><p>They finally catch the Mandalorian on Tython.</p><p>They get a pretty good view of what's going on as Boba puts the ship down.  The Mandalorian is with the child on some sort of platform.  There's a blue glow around where the child is seated.</p><p>"What's the plan?" Fennec asks Boba.</p><p>"Get up on that ridge," he tells her.  "Get a bead on the child.  I'll approach the Mandalorian, offer an exchange.  He gives me the armor, we let the child live."</p><p>"Are you insane?" she snaps, grabbing at him as he goes to stand and collect his weapons.  "What's to stop him from just shooting you where you stand?"</p><p>"You," Boba says.  "He won't make a move while you've got the child in your sights."</p><p>She shakes her head, flabbergasted.  "This is ridiculous."<br/>
<br/>
"If he does shoot me," Boba says.  "Run back here, pull up the commands, and get out.  You've been up here with me, you've seen me fly this ship, you know how."</p><p>"Wait, what?" she says.  And she can't believe the next words that come out of her mouth.  "I'm not just going to leave you here..."</p><p>"If it goes bad, just get out of here.  I still have contacts on Tattoine, just go there.  You'll be fine."</p><p>"What the fuck?" she snaps, reaching out for him again.  But he's strapped on his weapons and is already pushing the controls to open up the ship.  She curses at him again for good measure, hurries to grab her rifle, then rushes after him.</p><p>Things go according to plan for all of five minutes before two platoons of Stormtroopers show up.  For a hot second, she thinks they must be after Boba before she realizes, of course, they're after the Mandalorian and his child.  And why must nothing ever be easy?</p><p>At least Boba finally gets his damn armor back.</p><p>They stand side by side, watching as the Mandalorian combs through the wreckage of his ship.  It's a sad thing to see, the slope of his shoulders as he digs around in the dirt and ash.  There's a sort of gloom in the air, desperation and desolation.</p><p>She looks over to Boba, to where he's frowning at the sight.  She reaches out, touches the turning beskar plating over his shoulder.  There's no way he can possibly feel her, the metal is too thick, but he must see her in his peripheral—or maybe it's like he said, the Mandalor see their armor as an extension of their self...</p><p>He turns his head to look at her, and his expression softens when their eyes meet.</p><p>"Do you feel like you have an 'integral part' of yourself back?" she asks him.</p><p>He smiles, melancholy, and looks down at himself.  He runs his hands over his chest, over the plating, and says, "Something like that."</p><p>"I'm glad," she tells him, truthful, genuinely glad in her heart. </p><p>And now that it's over, she has questions.  Like, what now?  And, do you want me to leave?  And, what if I don't want to leave?</p><p>“How did you know I wouldn’t just shoot it?” she asks.</p><p>“Shoot what?” Boba counters.</p><p>“The child.”</p><p>“Oh,” he says, then chuckles.  “I took a shot in the dark that you hopefully respected me enough to leave that bounty.”</p><p>“Quite the shot,” she notes.</p><p>“Well, you didn’t shoot it.”</p><p>“Touché.”</p><p>But then Boba says, "I still owe this Mandalorian.  I promised him his child's safety for my armor, and I haven't yet held up my end of the bargain."</p><p>Fennec shakes her head.  "We did nothing to the child."</p><p>"If we hadn't been here, he would have been on the stone and able to protect his child," he argues.</p><p>She sighs.  "Alright, what do you propose?"</p><p>"I’m going to help him get his child back.  His ship is destroyed, he'll at least need a ride off-planet," Boba says.  "But I have my armor back, so you owe me nothing further.  I can drop you at the nearest spaceport..."</p><p>"Is that what you want to do?" she asks.  "Because you've still got work to do, and going up against the Empire, you could use someone like me."</p><p>"We definitely could," he says, slow, as if picking and choosing his words.  "But you are not obligated to stay..."</p><p>"I was never obligated in the first place," she says.  "You know I could have blasted you between your eyes at any time.  Like you yourself said, I've seen you fly your ship, I know how, I could have gotten myself anywhere I wanted.  But... I chose to stay."</p><p>He's quiet for a long time before he comments, "I'm glad you didn't shoot me."</p><p>"Me, too," she says, leaning over to bump shoulders with him.  Boba grins at her, before stepping away to talk to the Mandalorian.</p><p>It's going to be a tight ride with three of them in the Slave I, she thinks.</p><p>Maybe the Mandalorian won't mind watching.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Comments and kudos are love &lt;3</p></blockquote></div></div>
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